Complete Graded Essay: Inmate & Detainee Rights to Adequate Medical Care

Inmate Jones arrives at your jail and complains at intake that his hand is swollen and in pain.  He states he thinks he has an infection and can hardly move his fingers.  The intake officer looked at the inmate’s hand and noticed it looked really bad and promised the inmate would be seen immediately by a member of the medical staff.  Jones was instead sent to a housing area where his hand continued to swell.  Two weeks later inmate Jones was seen by the jail physician who immediately ordered Jones transported to the hospital where Jones was admitted.  The surgeon at the hospital noted that Jones had a fractured hand and infection that if left untreated could have led to the hand being amputated.

Do you think inmate Jones has stated a plausible cause for damages against the intake officer for monetary damages for refusing to properly examine, treat and/or triage his hand upon intake? How should Jones claim be filed and do you think the medical provider is also at fault?